Pill-counting apparatus



June 21,-1960 A. R. MILLER PILIfCOUNTING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 25, 195B@2 2@ d @NMX lj wwf/vm? mym United States Patent C PILL-COUNTINGAPPARATUS Anthony R. Miller, 2549 Blaisdell Ave., S., Minneapolis, Minn.

Filed Aug. 2s, 195s, ser. No. 756,798

6 claims. (ci. 19a-3o) This invention relates to apparatus for handlingpills for counting and the like and more specifically relates toapparatus for individually segregating pills from each otter so as tofacilitate ready and easy counting of the p1 s.

An object of my invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus ofsimple and inexpensive construction and operation for handling a volumeof pills to facilitate counting thereof. p p

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel apparatus whichwill `accept a large volume of small objects such as pills and the likeand will string out the pills into a line to thereby facilitate countingof the the drawings and is described herein. The apparatus,`

which is indicated in general by numeral 10 includes a generallycircular upright housing 11 having. an open top- 11b and having asupporting structure 11a in the borttom thereof to which is rigidlyaffixed a motor 12 having a,;drive shaft 12b to which is keyed a bevelgear 12e.

The` upper end of shaft 12b has a pill-carrying rotor 13 aflixed thereonwhich is generally conically shaped and is convergent in an upwarddirection. The peripheral u edge portion 13a of the rotor 13 is disposedin closely spaced relation with respect to the upright wall `11 but ismovable with respect to the wall 11.

Means are provided for guiding and obstructing the rotary movement ofthe pills or other objects carried.A

on the rotor 13, and` in the form shown, such means include aquadrant-shaped rigid structure 14 aixed'to the upright sidewall `11 ofthe housing and having a sloping bottom ledge which is spaced fromtheconically shaped rotor i013A so as to allow the rotorto rotatethereunder and `to prevent pills 'from moving beneath the structurell'.`

A pilllguidin'g 'vane'15 is" aiiixed to the structurel/4' and extendsgenerally outwardly from the central portion of the rotor 13 intoproximity with the cylindrical sidewall 11 of the housing. lt will benoted that the outer end portion 15a of the rigid and aixedly emplacedvane 15 is spaced from the sidewall 11. At the end of the rigid andstationary vane 15 is provided a flexible and thin membrane or filament16 which is disposed immediately above the rotor 13 and extendsoutwardly into close proximity with the sidewall 11. The membrane 16will be flexed under the inuence of a pill being urged thereagainst bymeans of the rotor 13 so as to allow pills to pass by the vane 15 one atya time and along the peripheral wall 11 of the housing.

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17 so as cause the pills traveling on the rotor and past Y the membrane16 to pass through the opening 17. A

chute 18 is secured at the bottom edge of the opening 17 to direct thepills onto a conveyor belt 19 which is: mounted on a rotary shaft 20 anda second idler roller 21 which are respectively mounted in bearings 22mounted on an elongated frame structure 23 which is suitably affixed tothe housing 11 and extending radially outwardly therefrom in alignmentwith the opening 17. The frame structure 23 defines upwardly extendingwalls 24 at the opposite sides of the conveyor 19 so as to maintain thepills on the conveyor. A plurality of deflector vanes 25 and 26 areaixed to the walls 24. It will be seen that the several vanes or panels25 direct the pills toward one side of the conveyor and the vane 26cooperates with the first vane 25 to assure that ther-pills will rolltherealong and be carried on the conveyor in a single line. As the pillsare guided by the vane 25 toward one side of the conveyor 19 they willbe maintained in a single line and will be discharged olf the end of theconveyor.

Means are provided for driving the conveyor in synchronism with therotor 13 and in the form shown, a first lshaft 27 is mounted in asuitable bearing 2S on the supporting structure 11a and has a pair ofbevel gears 29 and 30 on the opposite ends thereof. The bevel gear 29 isin engaged and meshed relation with the bevel gear 12e and is driventhereby. The bevel gear 3u is engaged and meshed with another bevel gear31 which is aliixed to a drive shaft 32 which is mounted in suitablebearings 33. The other end of shaft 32 has another bevel gear 34 affixedthereon which is meshed with a bevel gear 35 on the conveyor drivingshaft 2t). The bevel gears 34 and 35 may be enclosed in a suitableprotective housing 36 which is affixed as by screws 37 to the side wall11 ofthe main housing. p

. Means are provided on the` apparatus for counting theA pills moved bythe conveyor 19 and in the form shown, such means include aphotoelectric cell 37 and a source of light 3S which are oriented inalignment with each other at-the `discharge end, of the conveyor 19 andpositioned so that the pills falling otf the end of the conveyor -Vsuitable control means for operating the motor relay #ttl when apredetermined number of pills `have been counted so asto deenergize themotor relay and stop the motor.

Inthe operation-of the present invention, the motor 12 will be operatedatV any oneiof three selectable speeds, either Ithirty-three r.p.m.,forty-five r.p.m., or seventyeight r.p.m. lt has been found that tooperate the motor at a rate of speed of thirty-three r.p.m. providessatisfactory results for handling pills up to tive to six hundred pillsper minute. After the motor 33 is started, the rotor 13 lwill revolve inthe direction indicated by arrow A, and thereafter, a large quantity ofpills may be poured indiscriminately upon the rotor 13. The pills willslide down the conically shaped rotor and will rest against the sidewall11 of the housing. The rotating rotor will carry the pills around thehousing and into engagement with the stationary vane 15 and intoengagement with the liexible membranes 16 which will flex under theinuence of the Patented June 21,1969

the pills in a single line as they passalong theY belt con-Y veyor andthe` pills will thereby pass through the light beam from .the source 38in4 a single line so asV to cause operation of the counter 39 each timea pill breaks the light beam. It is contemplated that ordinarily pillswill be supplied onto the rotor 13 in such numbers that theY pills willnot build up into almultiple layer accumulation adjacent the rotorperiphery.v However, even if the pills are slightly piled up adjacentthev periphery of thefro-tor,

13the pills will still pass by the membrane 16,v one at a time. It willbe understood that 4most pills are smoothly rounded and it is quiteunlikely that one pillwill lie upon another pill in exact verticalalignment with the underlying pill. because the underlying pill is beingdriven byy the rotor i3, it will pass by the membrane 16 and if the psecond pill lying on the underlying pill is not exactly in verticalalignment in all, respects with the underlying pill, themembrance i6will engage the overlying pill and will iiick it in a reverse directionas compared' to the. direction of travel'of the rotor, or at least willrestrain the overlying pill so that it does not pass by the membrane atthe same instant, asi the underlying pill. It is conceivable that uponvery infrequent occasions, two pills` might pass .the membrane` 16 atrone instant, but even if this occurs, the two pills will engage' thesurface 14a'and be'fedonto the .conveyor belt'19 at `differentinstances, so that the desired effect of Stringing out the pills forcounting purposes is accomplished.V v Y It v/ill be seen that I haveprovided a new and improved device for handling a large quantity ofpillsV or other small objects for Stringing out the pills into a singleline to facilitate counting of the pills.

It will,- of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, detail,v arrangement and proportion of thev parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which consists of the matterdescribed here'- in and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: Y Y

l. Apparatus for segregating small objects such aspills and the like forcounting the same one by one, comprising a substantially cylindricalretaining wall, an upwardly convergenttapered rotor inwardly of the walland having alower peripheral edge in closely spaced relation tothe wall,means revolving the rotor on an upright axisfsub- Vstantiallyconcentrie'of the wall, Vsaid-wall having apilldischarging opening atthe edge of the rotor to allow pills to'iroll off the rotor and out theopening, -a rigid, stationary vane above the rotor-and extending fromthe central portion of the rotor into spaced vrelation with the wall atone side of the opening therein, an upright ilexible membrane on thevane'an'd extending therefrom to the wall and yielding under theinfluence of pills on the rotor to permit the pills to move one ata timebetween lvane andwall and into the opening. i

2. Apparatus 'for segregating Small objects vsuch as pills 41 and thelike for counting/the same one byv one, comprising a substantiallycylindrical retaining wall, an upwardly convergent tapered rotorinwardly of the wall and having a lower peripheral edge in closelyspaced relation to the wall, means revolving the rotor on an uprightaxis substantially concentric of the wall, said wall having apill-discharging opening at the edge of the rotor to allow pills to rolloff the rotor, and` out of the opening, a rigid stationary vane abovetheV rotor and extending from the central portion. of the rotor intospacedV relation with the wall .at one side of the opening therein, anupright dexible membrane on the vane'and extending therefrom to the walland yielding under the iniiuence of pills on the rotor to permitthe.pills to move oner at a time between the vane and thewall and into theopening, an outwardly extending conveyorhaving a receiving end below theopening and in close proximity therewith, guide means at the oppositesides of the conveyor for retaining the pills on the conveyor, and anobliquely oriented stationary vane extending across the conveyor. anddirecting ther pills to one side thereof whereby to orient the pills ina single line as they move along the conveyor to facilitateV countingoflthe pills one by one.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 and including al counter mechanismhaving a photoelectric cell at photoelectric cell and light source aredisposed at'the'` dischar'geend'of theconveyor to sense thedischargingof pills from the conveyor.

5. The invention set forth in claim 2 and including a` pill-obstructingStructure secured to the cylindrical wall and spaced above the rotor atthe other side of the opening in the wall, whereby to prevent pills frompassing by the opening as they move with the conveyor. 6. Apparatus forsegregating small objects such asi pills and the like for counting thesame one by one, cornprising a substantially cylindrical retaining wall,an voutwardly convergent tapered rotor inwardlyV of the wall and havinga lower peripheral edge in closely spaced rela'- tion to the wall, meansrevolving the rotor on an upright axis substantially concentric of thewall, said wall having 45 a pill-discharging opening at the edge of therotor to' allow the pills to roll olf the rotor and out the opening,`means obstructing movement of the pills on the rotor and extending fromthe central portion of the rotor into proximity with the wall, saidobstructing means andwall defining a space therebetween adjacent theedge ofthe rotor of :uch width as to accommodate the passage-off' pillstherethrough one at a time, 'and an upright flexible'v membrane xed insaid space and yielding under the influence of pills on the rotor topermit the pills to move;

one at a time through the space whereby to permit discharge of the pillsone at aY time through the opening in the wall.V

References Cited inthe file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS

